Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1887-05-27


Lake, and stopped at Provo for dinner.
While waiting at the station, some Of the
party beset an old Mormon ON the platform
and ratified him with ecclesiastical ques
tions 1t was an uneven contest, but the
Mormon held his own tolerably well. His
this "'lhc Bible teaches Gods revelation
to man lie revealed himself to his proph-
cts in oldcn time and the prophets told the
revelation to the people. II was the same
now God reveals himself to his latterday
saints through his prophet, Father Taylor,
Brigham Toung's successor, and through
him to the Mormon church The Bible
sanctions plurality of wives the patri-
archs all 50 lived and while it expressly
forbids adultery it nowhere furbids more
than one wife; therefore the Mormon faith
is true and all others are false" 1t should
be remembered that the Mormons cling to
the Bible with tcnacity and can quote it
with alacrity.
After leaving Provo the train began
to climb 1t is II tortuous road with heavy
/
the 30 passengers and 100 big trunks up
the hill The curves are very short and al
most continuous 1t was quite common to
pass over curves So short that passengers
in the seventh car plainly saw the locomo-
tives and the five front cars and passen-
gers in the seventh car frequently saw both
ends Of the train Of nine cars at the same
time.
1t was after passing the divide of this
Wahsatch range Of mountains that the
chief interest Of the day began. An hour
or two after the road begins 10 descend tine
grade it enters ragged canyon which end,
in what is known rs Castle Gate. This is
two bare towering cliffs of perpendicular
rock over 400 feet high. Although they
are not directly opposite each other they
look as though they were at a little dis
lance oil, with just room for the road bed
between They give the appearance Of two
ginnt gate posts aud are as perpendicularly
erect rs walls of masonry. After passing
through this gate the road enters wide
valley which resembles hillowy desert.
There is no vegetable or animal life in sight
save an occasional gopher sitting on his lit
tie mound Of sand. The road follows the
bed of a dry or nearly dry river, while a
mile or 50 away ON either side the valley is
guarded by singular rock formation which
closely resembles walled cities. For miles
these great walls appear, hundreds of feet
/ high, with an occasional dome or castle lift
ed above the square face Of the continuous
/ battlements More than one exclaimed
/ THAT looks like Quebec = while others in
/ sisted that the similarity 10 castles and
walled cities of the old world was very
marked When some other sights of thi,
/ trip fade from memory, Castle Valley anC
/ Castle Gate will remain, SO deeply do they
impress the beholder.
Tuesday morning brought different
scene Following the Cimarron creek down
"A few miles the road enters the Black Can
yon Of the Gunnisnn river. For nine mile
the railroad follows up this rapid and an
CRY torrent, between steep, towering walls
much of the way said to be more than / ,O0'
feet high. and 50 close together that in ma
ny places the rocky sides Of the mountain
had to he blasted out to make room fo
even narrow gauge track. Once in
while the railway crosses the narrow stream
and more than once the passengers ar,
treated 10 cascade from AN incoming
brook, while in one place there is a yer!
good miniature of the Bridal Veil fall o
the Yosemite For miles the walls on eithe
side are impressive, but at one point "a tow
ering monument of stone 900 feet II
height stands out alone. This is Currecant
Needle
There was hardly time after passing
through the Black Canyon to digest it
grandeur and the excellent dinner at Sar
gent. before another and still grunde
scene opened to the gaze. Dividing tn
train and taking three locomotives, the par
ty began climbing the range of the Rock
mountains which separates the waters q
the Atlantic and Pacific The summit
nearly | 900 feet above the sea-or owe
two mies-and this height is gained by
very crooked road at IA grade much of tn
way of over 200 feet to the mile. As tn
train progresses up the steep, the view b,
comes less ubstructed, until finally whe
near the summit the eye stretches owe
mountain peak after mountain peak Tn
is Marshall Pass. After stopping whg
seemed very long time i'll the thin air an
sitting smoke of the snow shed at the sun
nit to have the wheels and brakes eXamiI
ed before attempting the perilous descent
the trains moved out upon the eastern slol
exposing one of the Tarest mountain view
on the continent. Mount Ouray holds til
pass, towering several thousand feet abov
the road-bed. Directly in front across tn
valley is the long Sangre de Christie range
whose peaks with those of Ouray and tn
nearer mountains, glisten with unusu,
brightness because of the late heavy snow
upon them These sharp, clear-cut an
dazzling pyramids stretch away to til
south until sky and snowy peak conmingl,
Meanwhile our train moves steadily dow
the face of the mountain in IA zig gag cours,
The forward section, which may be tire,
fourths of mile in advance, crawls bac
and forth beneath us, sometimes going til
same way as our train and sometimes
exactly the opposite direction so windin
is the road. In fact, at one point thrt
parallel tracks are plainly seen below G
the side of the mountain, and the attentio
of the passengers is divided between wol
der and awe at the grandeur of the moul
tain scenery and amazemmt at the engil
eering skill that planned and the indomit
BILE pluck that built such road as the De-
yer & Rio Grande through the Black Ca
yon and over the Marshall Pass.
All drew a long breath when at p.
the train ran into the little town of Sale
, at the base of the mountain, 1000 feet 10,
er than the pass where it was one hour b
fore. Here we ''camped" ON a siding f
the night.
Following down the valley of the Arka
1 saw river Wednesday morning, with Il
} silvery peaks of the Sangre de Chris
, range still in sight much of the way, d
river and the railroad soon come into ma
i -